June 2017 - Present
THE BIG PICTURE DRAWING GROUP
The Big Picture drawing group is a creative community that comes together every month to draw or create for a whole day. We have a combination of IRL (in Preston) and online days, with an Email list to stay in contact and a What’sApp group for our Online days. We follow our own creative agenda in a relaxed supportive atmosphere.
There are no rules, just encouragement to draw (or engage in any other creative pursuit) in whatever way suits you.
ALL ABOUT THE BIG PICTURE GROUP
HOW IT ALL STARTED
Bernie Velvick from ArtFull consulted artists in Preston about what was needed to continue to develop our creative practice in competition with the everyday pressures that take over our time. From this consultation came a project supporting artists to spend time together participating in an ambitious creative activity. With seed funding from Preston City Council Cultural Development fund to provide materials. The Big Picture group joined the first Oxheys artists collective Making a Mark artist-led event in June 2017, and took over the Harris permanent collection galleries for the day.
The Big Picture project provided artists in Preston with the opportunity to take part in three large scale drawing days. Sessions were based on a peer support model of reinvigorating professional practice, inviting new and established artists to experience the physicality of working in a different scale to their normal practice.
The drawing days provided large scale paper of different qualities, cheaper paper to experiment with and high quality paper for developing lasting drawings. We supply chunky drawing materials for experimentation and encouraged artists to learn from each other.. We use drawing exercises from Glasgow Scool of Art for loosening up and getting in the zone.
The group has no leader and no rules, just draw in whatever way suits you. its all about encouraging each other and enjoying the wide variety of drawing that happens.